Launch of the 2014 Legatum Prosperity Index™ - Public Panel (London)

Tuesday, 4 November 2014

The Legatum Institute launched its 2014 Prosperity Index at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. The event included a presentation of key findings, followed by a high-profile panel discussion on the 'British enterprise spirit'.

Sian Hansen, Executive Director at the Legatum Institute welcomed guests to the Academy. Her introduction was followed by a summary of key findings from the 2014 Index, presented by Nathan Gamester, Programme Director to the Legatum Prosperity Index™.

Key findings included:

Norway ranked 1st for overall prosperity for the sixth year in a row

New Zealand is the highest climber at 3rd on the Prosperity Index

The UK has emerged as a world-leader for entrepreneurship

China continues to climb up the Economy sub-index, and now ranks 6th in the world on this measure.

The United States is no longer perceived to be the ‘land of the free’, ranking 21st on the Personal Freedom sub-index

Russia is the worst performing country in Europe this year

Venezuela has declined the most of any country this year, falling 22 places to 100th on the Index

Sierra Leone is the worst performing country on the Health sub-index and sub-Saharan African countries make up nine of the bottom 10 countries on this sub-index

The presentation of findings was followed by a panel discussion moderated by James Barty, Senior Adviser, Legatum Institute, which discussed the ‘British enterprise spirit’, based on the UK's high performance in the Economy and Opportunity sub-index in 2014.

They explored why Britain was still an entrepreneurial nation, and what it needed to do to become more so. The discussion was livestreamed, and watched by viewers across almost 30 countries. The panel was followed by a drinks reception attended by 200 people including Iain Duncan Smith, Minister of Work and Pensions, Frank Field MP and Laura Sandys MP.

The following day members of the Prosperity Index team held a parliamentary breakfast on the Institute’s research. The breakfast was hosted by Jacob Rees-Mogg MP and provided an opportunity for us to discuss how the Index can be used by policy-makers.

The parliamentary briefing was followed by lunch event co-organised with the Diplomatic Press Attachés Association of London. The aim of the event was to brief embassy representatives on the findings of the 2014 Prosperity Index. It included representatives from the five broad regions of the world and generated a constructive debate on the countries represented in the room.

Ranking prosperity in the world . Polish up. Russia dropped the most from all the countries of Europe, TOKFM (Poland), 3 November 2014 (View)

About the Prosperity Index

Now in its eighth year, the Index assesses 142 countries, representing more than 96% of the world’s population and 99% of the world’s GDP.

Using rigorous research and in-depth analysis, the Index ranks countries based on their performance in eight sub‐indices—Economy, Entrepreneurship & Opportunity, Governance, Education, Personal Freedom, Health, Safety & Security and Social Capital.

For more information about the 2014 Legatum Prosperity Index™, please visit www.prosperity.com

The foundation

The Legatum Institute Foundation is a registered charity (number 1140719), and a company limited by guarantee and incorporated in England and Wales (company number 7430903), registered address 11 Charles Street, London, W1J 5DW